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conservative
maine Vemocralie star
The. telegenic * Keyes
Democratic . resonreés

came fast and furious the instant
Illinois Republicans hinted © they
would nominate " out-of-state
Republican pitchman Alan Keyes. to
tun against black. . Illinois state
legislator and nising Democratic star
Barack Obama. Keyes is the but of
humor because. he's a ooeperts eger.
This ts essentially the tag that he laid
on Hillary Clinton when she. ran for
her New. York Senate seat. He is a
hard-line conservative who bombed
in two presidential and Senate bids.

Mw Lately, I have
been _ hearing
derisive talk
about

| impoverished
Blacks that: As

- facist, because
- ttonically, © they
TOs iia ees coming
Yes, there are difficulties among

the poot blacks in Arriérica afd 'there

has been a moral. and political

disconnect but it is elitist and classist

to pretend that any of these issues are

calely the issues of the poor and
ack.

Those who wish to rail against
the poor without activism are no
different from armchair quarterbacks

Some Groups Have Been Working to S

By Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA)- While
comedian and philanthropist Bill
Cosby was busy criticizing low-income
Blacks for not fultilh their
obliganons to society and to their race,
were thousands of people already
engaged in helping the very people he
was upbraiding.

"We run a wide range of after
school programs across the country.
And many of them are successful. We
touch probably about 600,000 to
700,000 kids a year, which is
considerable," says Marc Moral,

resident and CEO of the National

'rban League. For example, we have
a male responsibility progratl that we
tun in Chicago. | said to the director,
"How many people do you serve in a
year? ? He said, "300." 1 said, oHow
many could you serve" He said, "Awe
man, I could serve 5,000 if I had the

- him as

Hillary?" :
4 It can be said that Republicans -

ll twill also
nocrats to pound

tate import. He
can. shoot. back, "But what about

played their own version of the
race card by picking Keyes, in what

| amounts to a not-too-transparent

effort to whittle down the massive
support Obama will get from
blacks and moderate whites. Still,

the fact that Keyes is an

African-American could allay the
squeamishniess " _ moderate
Republicans feel about his
hardcore conservatism.

Republicans can also stand that
_ argumerit on its head and boast
nat oe Barty is colorblind and that
they picked Keyes because he is a
seasoned political campaigner.
Given the lack of time to get
someone to challenge Obama,
they'll say, Keyes was the best
choice.

who criticize football games on their
fat lazy behinds, without ever havin

stepped onto the gridiron.
Armchair activists, view
themselves as socially active because

they support, programs ted at.
our bet ond ightest, ae ;
ignore the second best.and the not'as
bright.

Any of us can point to T the
problems, What I would like to hear
discussed are the reasons why the
working class and underclass have
worsened," use at that poifit we
can begin to identify solutions.

For exdmple, ? Blacks ' once
enjoyed jobs that were easily
obtained with very little education.
Those jobs were adequate to support
a family, even if on the verge of
poverty Changes in the economy

ave erased many blue-collar jobs,
and today's minimum wage jobs are
barely enough to raise an individual.

resources."

More than 100 Urban League
chapters around the country, most
surviving on corporate donations,
foundaton grants or governmient
contracts, reach as many people as
possible with after school tutorial, job
training, leadership development and
responsible decision-making

Programs.
The Urban League is amon
thousand of organizations that seek
to address many of the age-old
problems cited by Mr. Cosby.
Speaking in Washington, D.C. at an
observance of the 50th anniversary of
the Brown v. Board of Education
Supreme Court decision, Mr. Cosby
complained that "the lower economic
people are not holding up their end
of this déal, ?

He athe) et people are not
patent are buying things for
their ide" $500 sneakers, for what?

- again
George Bab
Pigg oy threat to

Robert Dole in 1996 and

candidates an

and

was nabetnedty ishedly ideological.
aimed at pushing Republicans
further to the right on social issues,
But the Illinois Senate T tace is
different. A Republican, Peter
Fitzgerald, held the seat for one
term. The likelihood: is that as an

incumbent, if Fitzgerald had
chosen to T run he would have been,
heavily favored to win T ¢é-election.

His retitement gave Obama an

opening. In effect, its 4
one-on-one contest for an open
seat. . 4
Obama, like Keyes, is still
relatively unknown statewide in

Illinois. He has the daunting task

of introducing himself to voters. . -

The Keyes candidacy. also
poses a dilemma for Dernocratic
presidential contender John Kerry,

and potentially a dividend for inflexible .
lock for the thinking is that this makes him a

Bush. Hllinois ts no

Democrats. It's a highly contested,

key battleground state. If Obama
had face
opposition, he would have _ poll

in 2000, he was the

i oo

conservatism. The

political aberration with no chance
of winning. That ignores some

weak or nonexistent changing political realties: A July

by Black Entertainment

cakewalked to victory. This would Television/CBS found that blacks

have enabled the top
free up more
exclusively devote

Democrats to are overwhelmingly hostile to
money and Bush. But it also found that less
their energies than one out of three blacks are

into mobilizing support for Kerry. enthusiastic about Kerry. Other

But a hard charge by Keyes at the polls show 1
and number of | blacks, particularly

Senate seat could force O

that an increasing

the Democrats to spend money younger blacks, call themselves

and time trying to win that seat.
Keyes has been
ridiculed for his outspoken and

Bridge: Class and Classism

Add that to the growing difficulty in
obtaining higher education, and
young Black men find themselves on
the Eg to prison more often than
on the

females: left

are raising children

_ alone. |

Simple realities of this nation's
legacy of racism are still in place,
even as people choose to

blame on the heirs of racism. Blacks

are still the last to be hired and the have

fitst tobe fired. The glass ceiling is .

Still iw place for those on the rise T and

there are sadly too many of us
titclirig the financial: drain, including
the very poor as well as some of the

so-called middle class. Bill Cosby's

tage against the poor Black machine
outlines symptoms of an illness. Part

_ of the illness is abandonment by the

so-called middle class, as well as civic
and social organizations and the
church.

And won't spend $200 for Hooked
on Phonics T... They Tre on the corner
and they can t speak English ..."

Psychologist = Julia oHare,
co-founder " of the San
Francisco-based Black Think Tank,
says his comments would have been
more helpful had he suggested ways
to address the problems. She says
children too often get the blame for
circumstances over which they have
no control.

"They're not responsible for the
Ebonics," she states. *They*re not
responsible for the situaton that
causes them to stand on street
comers. If you look at the figures,
you have a society that will not
employ their mothers, will not
employ their fathers. In fact, you have
a society that sent most of their
fathers to prison." .

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
(AKA), the oldest of the Black

Don't Shoot The Messenger...

only mistake that I heard and read in the
comments was the fact that he singled
out paoan blacks and didn't
Mendon that sorry parents are among all
economic, social and Facial groups Asa

on-going poll of how Cosby's
comments are judged by ther audience
reveals the following: 98% agree and
2% di with him. Thank God

is heanng the message. We
ay find ourselves shocked at how
use and confusion that 2% will
the table if a nanonal dialog
pig eee of a

, we've ; seen
of the confusion tactic. Efforts will

2

#

aes

oi
8s

ln
23 3
1 :
frit

path to success. Many of the organizations,

ostreamline them T std colleges

independents, while a
roundly not-insignificant percentage of
blacks say they favor Bush's

Entities such as the NAACP
and the National Urban League are
Ike Black unicorns to the
community. Ask many of today's
poor and they have no idea where to
tind these organizations or what they
actually do.

Some of our "benevolent"
including "_ Black
fraternities and sororities are more
concerned with promulgating their
own legacy than _ " providing
community service to those in

lace greatest need.

For example, what of those who
"C" or "D" average grades?
Whete are the prograttis designed to
or
trade schools? Where are the elitist
classists to- give therm T choices when
the Armed Forces recruiters of the
drug dealers or the gangsters come
a-knockin? Where were the elitists in
the 1990's when urban schools began
to fall apart and programs designed
to give poor people choices

evaporated?
I know where they were.

Greek letter sororities, has operated

its Ivy Reading Academy for grades

.

K-3 for nearly two years with $1.5
million trom the U.S. Department of
Education.

Linda White, AKA s national
president, eagerly explains why her
organization chose to focus on the
early years of a child Ts life.

Children who have ~ not
developed the basic reading skills in
the very early years find it extremely
difficult, to become competent
readers in the later grades," she says.
*And when they are unable to read
effectively, then they don't perform
well in the other subjects and other
higher-level educational tasks and
they don't finish school, they can t
function in society."

Delay Davis, a sergeant in the
East Orange, N.J. police department
and executive of the

department's (Together

their fans and to
negative images with socially positive
ones. Now, if these guys and their
protges start talking, singing and
=pPINE about parenting and voter

hon, something very meaningful

could take place. Talk about a revolution

irector
TRY

ce some of the -

43 MILLION AMERICANS

re-election. .
The rare times _ that
Republicans have made a real
effort to attract blacks, put money
into a black Republican candidate's
campaign and delivered -
promises to pump more resources
into health care, _ "_ education,
minority business and education
Programs, they've dented the
Democrat's stranglehold on the
black vote. That happened most
notably in the T election in 2002 of
Lt. Govs. Michael Steele in
Maryland and Jennette Bradley in
Ohio. In the July Georgia Senate
primary, black Republican Herman

Absent. .

But they will show up to a
tubber-chicken dinner all bathed and
greased to honor those in the
community who are already
equipped with skills to make their
way to the top of the heap.

Integration opened the
floodgates for the best and the
brightest to flee our communities.
Black entrepreneurs close or
abandoned business and so-called
middleclass families evaporated from
the hood of dreams of "movin' on
up" were pursued vigorously,

Currently, the most
impoverished of Blacks huddle in
ghettos filled with the unemployed
and the underemployed. A strong
disconnects between. them and. the
rest of Black society is growing each
day, along with a strong distrust. Yet,
many so called "progressive" Blacks
now rail against impoverished Blacks
without attempting to understand
their conditions.

It took the Black church well
into the 1990's to begin to address

Redirecting Youth) program, is using
the police department to help rather
than lock up troubled youth.

"They come every day and they
go straight to the police department.
We give them access to the Intemet.
They do their homework at the police
station. My staff comes from behind
the desk and the children take over.
We teach them office skills. We show
them value and love," Sgt. Davis says.

"We call it giving an overdose of
support services tor that child. In
other words, while. the parents may
be drug addicted, it doesn't mean that
child can't make it. They may say, I
go to the gang because it's
protection. I go to the gang because
they feed me. 1 go to the gang
because it's my family." What we're
going to have to do is make sure that
child is eating every day, that we
remove all ot the factors that our
children have told us as reasons for

.. that would be the start of it.

Yet, when we boil it all down, in a
best case scenario, it will take the type of
social and cultural development that will
need to evolve down through at least
one generation before the results are
realized. That's the bad news, It may

on-

ott did to create it, If

' The Minority Voice Newspaper

ew

Og eeee

Cain made a _~_ respectable
second-place showing by
emphasizing conservative

Republican social.themes.

All this does not mean that
Keyes will beat Obama. The
Democrat has charisma, massive
support and plenty of cash. It does
mean that Keyes can make the
contest interesting and maybe even a
real horse race -- and that's no
laughing matter for the Democrats.

PNS contributor Earl Ofari
Hutchinson (ehutchi344@aol.com)
is a political analyst and author of
"The Crisis. in Black and Black"
(Middle Passage Press).

community redevelopment. Sadly, for
many churches, this means little more
than erecting huge structures the
homeless would T be bounced out of if
security catches them seeking shelter.

In many cities, the poor of color
aré lett without intrinsic government
assistance and without assistance from
other Blacks, sending them into a
whitlpool of devastation from which
there ts little sanctuary. Crime is now
the basic economy.

Before Cosby and other elitists
decide that today's poor are defective,
let them be mindful that they are
made of the same material as the
impoverished Blacks they disparage.
They are made: of the aethi n
came through different conditions. »

That is all that makes us different.

The issue is class and classism.
Those who are well off criticize the
poor for behavior that is hardly
endemic to poverty.

Dr. Cosby should know. It is still

See MyVoice Page 3

olve The Problems Cited by Cosby

them going to gang activity. We take

those nts off the table."

. Such support and encou nt
is cructal says Mary Lee Allen, director
of Child Welfare and Mental Health
Division -.at the " Washington,
D.C.-based Children*s Detense Fund,
@ non-profit organization _that
researches and advocates on behalf of
children.

oWe ty to ensure that there are
comprehensive services and supports
available to the children and their
families because you can't separate a

child from the family and community

in which they're living and in which
they're being raised," she says.

Mr. Morial says: everyone has an
obligation to help the needy. "Anybody
who's halfway enlightened understands
the interdependence in society," he
explains. "You can't build a wall
around yourself and pretend to be
Successful if there Ts pain and suffering
all around."

take at least half as long to fix this mess as
t is true, let's get
started as soon as possible. There is no
time to waste.

M. Garett is a Real E:state Constultan for
the D.D, Garrett Agency, Greemille, NC

is Published by
The Minority Voice, Inc.
Publisher/Fen
isher/Founder
cane

Home Office
© Gama NT
5
Phone: (252) 757-0365
Fax: (252) 757-1793

Fa ee ee ee ee

S# @e @bhS Oe 4 #4 Be 6%

oFF See & &

Page 6 The M-Voice Newspaper August 14 - 21, 2004

Community Woices

Seepirions, Expressions Co Reviews

Christ Is The Answer

Perhaps the most effective
propaganda in the world is the
satanic lie that the purpose of life is
to experience an endless series of
emotional highs --- fron
sensual thrill of sexual promiscuity
to the artificial highs of drugs and
alcohol to the excitement of living
on the edge and going to extremes.
Our entertainment and advertising
media shout to us that life is a series

of electrifying experience -- and

those who are not spending their
time bed hopping or sky boarding
or hang gliding are letting life pass
them by. Certainly many of our
younger generation are buying i into
this satanic lie.

LEWISTON - WOODVILLE - On May
29, 2004, descendants of William
Whitman Peele descended upon the
lawn of the family home place of
Bethlehem "Tobe" Peele, for the first
of a two-day family affair.

Anthony Dark, who presided over
Saturday's event, launched the reunion
activities by calling the family to
attention. Then Colleen McGlone led
the family in singing the familiar song,
"The More We Get Together" (the
happier are we). Afterwards, Minister
Cynthia Savage offered prayer. Hosts

and _ hostesses Brittany Cherry,
Shaniqua Cherry, Doris Knight,
Ophelia Lee, Benji McGlone, Titus

McGlone, Brian Peele, Dexter Peele,
Latoya Peele, and Charles Ramsey, lit
were on hand to welcome family, assist
wherever needed, and/or serve as
parking valets. However, Norman
Cherry, Sr. offered the official welcome
to the family.

Reunion president, William Peele.
Jr. conducted the family business
meeting. On the heels of the business

meeting was a sumptuous picnic of
delectable Southern foods and
home-baked dessefts.

After Queen Esther Todd asked
a blessing for the food, the Peele
families and friends dived into an
afternoon of fantastic fun, games, and
entertainment for all ages. Thomas
Savage, |r. and family had set up an
impressive stage for entertainment,
equipped .with karaoke provided by
Wilham Peele, Jr. At the appointed
time, Elizabeth Creecy, Coleen
McGlone and William Peele, Jr.
bravely stepped forth to sing a
karaoke " number apiece. Each
selection allowed the family to sing
along, as well as take a stroll down
musical memory lane.

Norman Cherry, Sr, William
Peele, Jr, Coleen McGlone, Doris
ee Knight, and Lovieree Lee Warren
offered nostalgic reminiscences of
days of yore, particularly with regard
to the cost of living spanning the
1930's to the 1950's. For example, in
1938 the average income was

the |

The fact is, life was never
intended to be all moonlight and
roses, swashbuckling adventures or
breathtaking journeys to faraway
places. It is bitter irony of our day,
perhaps more than in any other age,
that we have more diversions, more
gadgets, §_ more satellite-TV
channel, more websites, more
computer and video games, more
leisure-time diversions, and more
pornography, more phone sex and
computer sex, more drugs, more
parties, and on and on and on and
on and on and on---yet people
never, more anxious, nervous,
neurotic, depressed, guilt-ridden,
fearful, insecure; restless, bored, or
suicidal than they are today. When

$1731.00; new car~$860.00; tuition to
Harvard University~$420.00; movie
ticket--25 cents; gasoline-10 cents per
gallon; US. postage stamp-3 cents.
The reminiscences _ included
national and world news, famous

births, movies, music, sports, and

much more interesting information.
Charles Clarke, Jr. read and shared
copies of actual documents recorded
with the Register of Deeds as the
information pertained to his
great-grandfather Frank Peele and
Frank's descendants. Frank was the
oldest son of William Whitman Peele.

Saturday's reunion activities
culminated with Bingo and awesome
prizes for the winners. On Sunday,
the family enjoyed Sunday school arid
worship at Mount Olive Baptist
Church in Lewiston, the church from
which most of the Peles emanated.

Later in the afternoon, the family

gathered for a banquet at Cobbs
Comer/Holiday Inn in Williamston,
NC. Thomas Savage, Jr. was the
emcee for the banquet. Frank
Jackson, Sr. gave a heartfelt
invocation.

Early in the banquet, a memorial
service led by J. Keith Hancock
allowed the family to remember the
beloved deceased family members.
Carmen Warren sang most beautifully

"I Believe I Can Fly". Bernice Lee
Perry welcomed the family to the

banquet and Anthony Glenn Peele '

offered grace. Once again, the family
enjoyed a delicious dinner, this time-a
bit more "dressy" than Saturday's

casual picnic. Still, pe casualness OE

family was evider CO
were, given to new T
retirees,

oldest/' youngest, "farthest. |

we have surrounded ourselves with
all that our dreams have envisioned
we find our lives empty and still
without vision we find our lives are
still empty and without meaning.
The promise of the good life is all a

mirage. The Christian answer to this

satanic lie of this world is found in
John 17:13:" 1 am coming to you
now, but I say these things while |

POWER ILLUSTRATED

"PROBLEMS;

RESPONSIBILITI IES,

INTERFERENCES,
DISASTERS, INTERVENTIONS,

AND THE REMEDY"
Notice that I have revised -six
mini-topics to minister briefly on. My
Aimed Hopefully; (depending on the
receptiveness or rejectedfulness) of the
Listeners, to get them to listen with an
opened mind and ponder what have
Been written in their hearts and decide
for themselves, which is God's visible
Truth, and which is society's theory.

travelers, | sitbhonorees. William Peele,
Jr. read and shared with the family
copies of history pertaining to his
great-grandfather, William Whitman
Peele, and his grandfather, Bethlehem
"Tobe" Peele and other Peele
descendents as told to William. Jr. by
direct descendant Raymond Paul Peele.
After Elizabeth Creecy, and Norma
Creecy Jones presented the family tree,
William Peele, Jt. gave remarks, the
family sang the family song, Frank
Jackson, Sr. bestowed the benediction
and the Peeles headed back to their
various homes in North Carolina,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey,
filled to the brim with precious
memories of the grand 2004 William
Whitman Peele Family Reunion.

: J \
am still. in the world, so that they
may have full measure of. the joy
within them." That is where joy lies.

That is where T we can find
fulfillment, meaning, purpose and
blessing ... not in pursuing the will
o the wisp illicit sex | or

adrenaline-rush adventures, and not
in acquiring more and more
material things. True satisfaction

From, that point hopefully, we. will
conclude everything that's been
interjected with God's word, which is
the best solution.

My Topic of Interest "Youth
Criminal Conduct"

Trauncy from school; socializing
with delinquent friends, disobeying
school Officials, running away from
home, gang violence, disobeying
parents, Selling drugs, undisciplined
use of tongue (profanity), curfew
violations, School Bombings, bringing
guns on campus, all these are

problems T. chile in th

Training up a in the way in
which he should go; obeying parents,
Obeying school Official, obeying
police Officials, studying to achieve
an-Education, complying with
household chores, all these are
children's Responsibilities. _

Securing Laws _ prohibiting
parents from instilling disciplined in
their children; Arresting parents for
whipping their children, all of these
are Interferences.

Televised Exploitation of Black
Youth Offenders; Generalizations of
Black Youths Under Achievements,

Stigmas which denounces the
invetence of Today's Black Youths,

Stigmas which exhibit how wreckless
our Black Youths conduct are, all
these are Social Disasters.

Juvenile Rehabs has become
society's methods of Interventions for
Today's Troubled Youths. But what

only conies to those who ar
committed to Jesus. Christ, who are ir
relationship with Him. Here is a wa
of living filled with an unexplainable
joy that simply cannot be compated
with anything else. Psalm 16:11 read
Thou wilt show me the path of life: 4
thy presence is fullness of j joy: at thy
right hand: there are eicarus for
evermore. .

Elder Chavis

saith the word of God to. society
concerning this? John-15:5 "for without
me, ye can do nothing". However I will
give society A "B+ for Effort".
THE REMEDY

«First, Proverbs- 15 : 24 "The way
of life is above the wise, that he may
depart from Hell beneath". Thus saith
the Lord, "Stand ye in the ways, and
see, and ask for the Old paths, where is
the good way, and walk therein, and ve,
shall find rest for your Souls". Jeremiah
6 : 16 SOCIETY AND OUR
Government has swayed from the
Pathway of God. Until we repent and
turn from our wicked ways, there will
be no Solutions to cure our children's
destructive conduct.
Elder Chavis Served Sunday school teacher at the New
Beginning Church od Deliverance under the jurisdiction of
Bishop Jack. Richardson

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every
rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not

clothed.'

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

April 16, 1953

( " "

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Page 8 The M-Voice Newspaper August 14 - 21, 2004

Page 10. The M-Voice Newspaper August 14 - 21, 2004

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+ 21, 2004
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us Life

Newspaper August.14